Thursday, October 24, 2024
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Shouldn’t the PMO lead by example by paying its dues to Air India?

Bhimashankar Sanga
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Shouldn’t the PMO lead by example by paying its dues to Air India?

The Central Information Commission (CIC), being a quasi-judicial body had the jurisdiction to hear an RTI plea filed by activist Commodore (Retd) Lokesh Batra under section 18 of the RTI Act in presence of PMO & the Ministry of External Affairs on 3rd January. In his RTI plea, Lokesh Batra had sought information about expenses incurred on foreign air travel by the Prime Minister.  The primary concern of this RTI activist was the delay in the payment to cash –strapped Air India.

The stone-broke, deep in the red – Air India had a consolidated debt of Rs.51,367.07 crore at the end of 2014-15 fiscal. It posted successive losses of at Rs.5,490.16 crore, Rs.6,279.6 crore and Rs.5,859.91 crore in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 respectively. The carrier is surviving on  Rs.30,231 crore  financial bailout package cleared by the previous UPA govt. When the national carrier is neck deep in loss, delay and non-clearance of bills from the highest office in India-PMO is simply unacceptable.

The bills that are “under process” and “not received” keep piling up with each passing quarter.

Air India has also not been proactive and upbeat in recovering dues from the PMO office. It is not very keen to recue itself even when the demand for flights is sluggish and oil prices are rising North. There exists a lacuna in the recovery process of all government agencies like MTNL, BSNL, ITDC, BESCOM etc. The government agencies has shown lack of will towards recovering dues owed to them by various political parties, politicians and high offices. In 2003, Indian Youth Congress owed a sum of Rs.2,91,958 to ITDC. Though recovery proceedings were initiated under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 and to obtain recovery certificate under Section 14 thereof, but no steps had been taken for execution of the said recovery amount and certificate. Similarly in 2013, MTNL and BSNL had initiated the process of recovery of its dues from as many as 194 ex-MPs under Section 7B of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.To assist them in their recovery process, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariats had provided bank accounts of those ex-MPs. In spite of all the assistance and legal structures, recovery was not done.

Air India needs to learn from Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) which took a stern decision to cut power supply to former Queen Mother Ratna Rajya Laxmi Shah for not paying outstanding bill of 37 lakh rupees. NEA had similarly cut power lines of Gyanendra Shah, the last monarch of Nepal.

The utter disregard displayed by high offices & political masters towards clearance of government agencies’ dues had been condemned in the past by Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court in its decision- W.P.(C) No.4912/1998 & CM No.12564/2003 has issued  a directive to government agencies to discontinue the existing facilities like electricity , phone, rail/ air travel etc., in case of non-payment for these services for over three months. The very fact that the high court took 18 years to hear the PIL filed by Krishak Bharat shows the kind of negligence, resistance and reluctance involved in the issue of repayment of dues.

When air travel repayment is not done by an office like PMO without compunction, it lowers its own stature in the eyes of public. A common man, who struggles to make ends meet, let alone enjoy any luxuries, will never leave utility bills unpaid for months. Will the ordinary citizen be able to ever get away with something like this? Air India has to ensure that PMO pays up all dues within a time frame, including penal levies and interest. PMO, on the other hand should pay their bills promptly to set an example for others and also to restore people’s faith in them.

US Nativism, Indian (Hindu) exclusions and entrapped H1bs

The Mocking Bird
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US Nativism, Indian (Hindu) exclusions and entrapped H1bs

Understanding the mindset of the nativists. US nativists historically always feared the mass Indian immigration.

Remember, Indians in large numbers can be considered as an invasive species threat being extremely adaptable and having a strong culture with high re-productivity. Unchecked can outcompete the nativists and change the cultural ecosystem. Like it or not, this is always the under current below the layer of civilization and it manifests like the artificial backlogs for the trapped million Indians by the nativist enablers. When the back logged H1b folks from India go to the local Congressman about the crushing wait they have for green cards, the success ratio of congressman supporting them is dependent on whether he/she has this mindset of nativism or not. At every level, there is a hurdle of the nativists that needs to be crossed.Including sworn nativists at govt. institutions and influential lobbying groups.

Remember, it’s corporate greed that used the prevailing African slave system.But it is the nativists, that sustained them as slaves. History is repeating itself, in modern ways. Corporate greed is bringing in more H1bs and sustaining them with Indian job brokers. Nativism likes to keeps them as H1Bs with no proper rights and keep a gate check on them being added into the community.

Remember, Lala Lajpat Rai went back from US, after discrimination and made the best of his life after. So did, Gandhi from SA. They had food, clothing, shelter and above all they cherished liberty and found a purpose and value in their true country. Its time, the discriminated bright Indian minds, find a new purpose in their motherland before it is too late. Here is more research on the legacies of Indian (esp. Hindus) exclusionism by the non color nativists of America:

https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails//fileid/22923/6374

Will I-T and ED officials raid Madarsas that receive funds from organizations linked with terrorists?

Nitten Gokhaley
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Will I-T and ED officials raid Madarsas that receive funds from organizations linked with terrorists?

During the last week, the Income Tax, as well as ED officials have raided several temples and issued notices to many priests about their income. The recent raids were conducted at Nashik’s Trimbakeshwar Temple and at Visakhapatnam’s Simhachalam Temple.

Several right-wing outfits criticized the NDA Government for doing nothing against Madarsas and Islamic charities that receive funding from Saudi as well as other Gulf countries. I-T and ED teams are targeting Hindu Temples and priests but questions are being raised about their ability to launch an investigation against Madarsas.

“They can only target Hindu priests, but won’t dare to launch an investigation against Christian missionaries who use foreign funds to promote Christianity and convert Adivasis, Dalits in India. By acting against temples and Hindu priests, the BJP has done something that even Congress never dared to do while proving their secular credentials. Is the government planning to arrest and interrogate all the priests from popular religious places?”, said one leader from a party that is a part of the NDA.

“Priests earn their money after performing rituals; they are not involved in gambling or illegal liquor shops to make money. If the government has found one or two priests with a large sum of money, they cannot just go on harassing all the Hindu priests in various states and start treating them as criminals.”

Giving a communal turn to I-T and ED raids on temples sounds illogical, but, if you dig deep, you would find some sense in the same.

Organizations on terror watch list are financing some Madarsas in India?

Believe it or not, in September 2016, NDTV (yes, NDTV!) released their exclusive story about how organizations linked with Al Qaeda and other radical Islamic groups are financing Madarsas, orphanages, and schools to spread Saudi-Style Islam in the country.

The report also points out irregularities in financial transactions as well as how the information available on Home Ministry’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) website (Govt records) is incorrect.

It points out how Indian Government agencies fail to scrutinize details about funds that Islamic organizations receive from Arabian Peninsula.

Muslim scholar Zakir Naik’s IRF is in headlines because of ED’s action in money laundering case and other terrorism related links. The government acted against Zakir Naik only when Bangladesh blast investigations pointed out the role that Naik’s videos played in motivating terrorists.

Believe it or not, but initially, ‘secular’ Maharashtra police team was all set to give a clean chit to Naik, but Kerala police arrested two individuals from Mumbai working for Zakir Naik’s foundation and changed the scene. Perhaps, Mumbai police’s clean chit plan was changed due to Kerala Police and NIA’s intervention.

Anyway, getting back to the topic, the central government needs to show its guts and direct agencies to conduct raids on Mosques, Madarsas, and Islamic outfits that receive crores of rupees from abroad. Who knows? Such raids might open a can of worms.

Of ‘South Asia’ and the colonized speech of the Brown Folks

Saumya Dey
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Of ‘South Asia’ and the colonized speech of the Brown Folks

We Indians are ancient people and take justifiable pride in many accomplishments of our civilization over the roughly fifty centuries for which it has endured. We, in other words, have a lot of history behind us. Presumably, there is a lot in this history worthy of academic attention. And it does receive this attention, both from the Indian and western academics. But their approaches are different. One ought to know that universities in the western hemisphere, in Europe and North America, generally do not have departments of Indian history. They, instead, have departments of ‘South Asian Studies.’ For more than two decades or so, the terms ‘India’ or ‘Indian Subcontinent’ have been studiously avoided in western academia. Indeed, so widespread is this practice that last year there was a move (later aborted) in the United States to replace ‘India’ with ‘South Asia’ in the history text books in the Californian schools.

For some time now, ‘India’ and ‘Indian Subcontinent’ have been eschewed in Indian academic writing as well. We too have begun to call ourselves ‘South Asia’ and have followed up by producing learned theses on ‘South Asian literature’ or ‘South Asian religious traditions’ and holding academic seminars on ‘caste formations in South Asia.’ With what logic have we followed suit, and with such extraordinary alacrity? As far as my own discipline, history, is concerned, the reason sometimes adduced for the avoidance of using ‘India’ is that the territory covered by the present Indian state generally has not been (but for some imperial intervals such as the Mauryan, Mughal and British) one political unit prior to 1947. Further, not all ‘Indian’ history happened within the bounds of the current Indian state. A fair amount of it unfolded in areas which are no more politically parts of India – Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Hence, we are told, it is preferable to employ ‘South Asia’ in academic writings and conversations. This might sound at least empirically fair, after all our country happens to lie in the southern half of the Asian continent. But is it really so? Let me dwell on this issue by pointing out the very different academic treatment meted to another country which, like our own, has a lot of history behind it – Greece.

Classical Greece was not politically united; it was a congeries of scores of city states. In fact, the first time a Greek state was founded was in 1821. In the preceding two and a half thousand years there was a never a united Greek state. Instead, the country, following its city states’ phase, was a part of multiple empires – Macedonian, Roman, Byzantine and, finally, Ottoman. Yet, ‘Greece’, ‘Greek’, ‘Grecian’ and ‘Hellenic’ enjoy the status of being legitimate academic parlance. ‘India’, ‘Indian Subcontinent’ and ‘Indic’, on the other hand, are now academically almost taboo. Greece does not get called ‘South Eastern Europe’ though it is precisely that in plain geographical terms. The unfortunate fate of India, in marked contrast, is to be effaced beneath the appellation ‘South Asia.’ The famous University of Harvard has an Ancient History Department dedicated to the histories of Greece and Rome. Greek history is not banished to some department of ‘South East European Studies.’ I am sure, the very idea of doing so will appear rather ridiculous to the savants at Harvard. In the same institution, the history of our own country is studied and taught in a Department of South Asian Studies.

There is another fact about Greece which a lot of us are unaware of – some of the most well-known characters of Greek history did not come from what is today Greece. Not all ‘Greek history’ unfolded within the limits of contemporary Greece. Homer (if he existed at all) was an Ionian. Ionia will correspond to the northern coastline of present day Turkey. Pythagoras was born on the Island of Samos (in the Aegean sea) and spent most of his life in the city state of Croton which lay on the southern tip of Italy. Archimedes lived and worked in Syracuse which was a city state on the island of Sicily. Yet, all these gentlemen are regarded ‘Greek’ and their accomplishments naturally figure in any standard narration of ‘Greek history.’ Implicit in this practice is the acceptance that the history of ‘Greece’ transcends the territorial limits of the current Greek state. Thus, histories of northern Turkey, southern Italy and Sicily are effortlessly accommodated within the history of ‘Greece.’ And this is done while retaining the name ‘Greece.’ But, alas, the same courtesy is not extended to us. Histories of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal cannot anymore be justly accommodated within an academic account of Indian history. This collation can be done only within a narrative of ‘South Asian history.’

The name ‘India’, in such a situation, has to be given up in academic writing. To my sensibilities, this is an unpleasant academic habit that has gained some unfortunately widespread acceptance. This acceptance is an indication that the academic language that we brown folks speak and write is yet to be decolonized. Many years ago, the French philosopher Michel Foucault had conceptualized and elaborated upon the relations between structures of power and knowledge. The two, he had said, presuppose and produce each other. In other words, structures of power (social and political) conceal structures of knowledge – they are based upon a specific understanding of the world and they seek to enforce this understanding upon the people they control. In the same vein, structures (or systems) of knowledge have relations of power inbuilt in them – they might privilege certain people with a certain way of seeing the world more than others. How does this privileging operate? We might say that it happens when certain people supply the ‘correct’ concepts and nomenclature for a certain system of knowledge and certain other people unquestioningly accept their verity. We brown folks are guilty of privileging the west by allowing it to decide the ‘correct’ concepts and nomenclature which we can employ to relate our history. We no more suffer political colonization, but we have allowed the west to colonize our academic speech. We have done this by taking to calling ourselves ‘South Asia’ and silently tabooing the use of ‘India’ and ‘Indian Subcontinent.’ As far as I am concerned, ‘South Asia’ is a badge of disgrace that we ought to cease to wear. I am not a ‘South Asian’, no more than a Greek is a ‘South East European.’ I am an Indian and my country is a part of a broader geographical and civilization whole which I would like to be called the Indian Subcontinent. This because the broad cultural and civilizational pattern across this whole is Indic, just as the broad cultural and civilizational pattern in ancient Ionia, Croton and Sicily was Hellenic. For me it is only incidental that the Indian Subcontinent happens to lie in the southern half of the Asian land mass.

Demonetization: It came, it saw and it has already conquered India

sensecurator
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Demonetization: It came, it saw and it has already conquered India

If you don’t know what you are looking for, you will never know when you have found it. And that’s the state most so-called experts sit it today. A prominent Lebanese-American essayist has a name for such experts – Intellectual yet Idiots (IYI’s).

Now that India has recently moved past the 50 day grace (for normalcy) sought by the Prime Minister post announcing demonetization, these IYI’s are currently warming up the airwaves (good for the country where winters can get quite chilly), reviewing whether PM Modi’s words have indeed ringed true. Alas, if only they knew that to measure something like the impact of demonetization and the fact that its outcomes will not be linear (non-linearity as a concept is not something statisticians and economists understand very well), it is near to impossible to even lay down criteria’s of success.

Before going any further, let’s get the elephant out of the room. Did demonetization cause pains & hardships for the country at large? Yes, what’s to debate here? And debating something thing like the “extent of pain versus gain” with incomplete and ambiguous information at hand is something I will leave to studio intellectuals. I would rather look beyond the noise to understand the real impact since the 50 days of demonetization which leads me to believe that Demonetization Came, Saw and Conquered India while experts play peekaboo!

I mentioned earlier that the impact of something like demonetization is non-linear. Without over complicating this, let’s just say some events in a field (economics here) don’t have a direct/linear impact in the area (economy here). Some events such as this have a psychological and social impact leading to attitudinal and behavioral change which may then circle back (or not) to economic impact. Not a straight line, if you get what I mean. With that, allow me to argue this via two angles in brief (one bottom-up and one top-down) without even claiming to cover all arguments within each. The aim is only to tickle the readers mind around the subject of impact and encourage holistic thinking (and debate).

Let’s start with the bottom-up angle of behavioral change as one impact. For that, jog your memory to the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), an initiative launched by the Indian government in August of 2014. Against the original target of opening bank accounts for 7.5 crore households in the country by 26th January, 2015, banks had opened 12.54 crore accounts as on 31st January 2015. Many would call that successful based on statistics alone. But then ask: if everyone in the country did indeed have a bank account then why should there have been any challenges in salary/wage payments after demonetization? Note: Points around withdrawal limits, loss of man-time etc are part of the “pains versus gains” argument referred to earlier and is not worthy of debate here.

Getting back to the point, the fact is that for reasons including a general sense of inertia, there remained many unbanked even after the PMJDY window. Employers (especially mid/small ones) largely continued to pay wages/salaries in cash (some for sinister reasons as well). Even in the so-called upper class, most continued paying their domestic staff in cash (at least till the time of demonetization if not after that). Back then, nothing triggered employer to insist/assist their employees with account opening and moving to electronics payments (i.e. starting a social change movement).

One can even argue, that this lack of trigger which leads to social change, was absent even in context of trade/small businesses. The small/mid-sized pop & mom grocery store or chemist even if not your vegetable vendor (I concede there was little scope of this in villages though), never saw a compelling reason to move towards electronic money (despite Jan Dhan accounts coming with RuPay cards). And even the everyday consumer happily continued paying for most purchases in cash. Status Quo. And as always, the blame for status quo rests with the opposite party! Right?

A government attempted financial inclusion and literacy but saw no on-ground change. Had there been recognition of the same, the beginnings of behavioral change (around usage of digital payment) would have started sooner with potentially lesser pain at the time of demonetization. Cut to today. Now with demonetization, an attitudinal and behavioral shift has been kick started (pun intended, appears as if Indians needed a kick) which is the beginning of a social change that cannot be reversed. The larger psychological impact (of currency suddenly being worthless even tomorrow or other radical steps) would permeate the business of graft, on personal hoarding (even if clean money) and even trigger higher compliance around disclosures.

Will everyone suddenly become a responsible citizen? No, but the world didn’t move from landline to mobiles overnight and many people still continue to drive manual cars even after technology moved first to automatic transmission and now to pilotless cars. Shifts are always gradual and once habits start change, things change bottom-up.

This brings me to be my second and top-down angle around impact on governance on the back of new data/information. The data/information I refer to is different from the data/information that comes up on subjects that the IYI’s debate endlessly. Let me first cross them starting with the crowd favorite that there is limited black money recovery since most part of the demonetized currency (15.44 Lac Crores: 86% of demonetized currency) is back with banks. For starters, there is no/was never any “definitive” knowledge of the quantum of black money in the economy, leave aside how much of it is in cash and stored at home/in country. But some estimates started being thrown around from the initial days (backed by incomplete statistics tailored to suit one’s own argument) even when the Government of India or RBI stayed clear of the extent of cash expected back.

Rhetoric aside, will you concede that even if 90% of the money comes back in, the unreturned portion would be around 1.5L Crore which is on the higher side of the entire food subsidy budget of India? By what standard is that not a sizeable or relevant number and shouldn’t that be counted as a positive impact? And lest we forget, do you see any expert accounting the higher percentage of deposits back in the system to the new Income Disclosure Scheme (post demonetization) i.e. more compliance?

That there is still a withdrawal limit (of Rs 24000/week for savings; Rs 50000/week for current accounts) may be infuriating for its violation of the democratic mandated freedom to bank as one pleases. But as a matter of practicality and impact on lives, with only 24.4 Lac having income of over 10 Lac a year, how many would really need to withdraw more than the permitted 1 Lac per month in cash for personal use? Likewise, which small/marginalized farmer needs more than that much cash every month considering the role of loans for special needs? And if all small businesses overcame inertia and moved to electronic payments including for salaries and wages, the 2 Lac a month permitted withdrawal in cash is fairly adequate for the typical profile of small/mid-sized businesses in the country. Clearly, it’s only a few that any further embargo will really hurt, just that these few may have greater political and economic clout (and resultant share of voice) to color others opinions.

Some other inane discussions will continue to do the rounds from questioning the timing (whether a decision to demonetize when the economy was picking up) but these are pointless arguments since both sides have its own risks and rewards, with never a clear answer. And if one does not drive forward by looking at their rear view mirror, it is time economist stop looking at past examples to counter a move like that of demonetization in India which has no parallels in the first place. And on a parting note, while the media did have stories of people dying in queues, personally did not hear any stories of people not getting their two square meals a day despite stories of transportation business being impacted (perhaps India resorted back to the pigeon as carriers for transportation to move food supplies at low cost!)

In reading the impact beyond the noise, what is clear is that even if all 100% of the demonetized currency comes back in, whether because of new IDS or otherwise, as declared income or suspect income, whatever may be the case, apart from India being flushed with liquidity (and its resultant opportunities for everyone, details which I won’t get into here), more importantly what India has ended up is with a mine-field of information around individual wealth and transactions. Yes, that’s the critical piece. And it is as accurate as it can get. Such information is priceless. Anyone underestimating how this information can aid in further offensives & top-down strategies to improve tax compliance and to improve governance should take a step and enter the world of the opportunities around Big Data. That’s a huge one.

In summary, with due acknowledgment to a certain element of pain in the last 50 days especially to the daily wagers, the pensioners, those with illness and others with occasion driven currency requirement, change cannot be seen as a rapid move from darkness to light, for there is a dawn in-between. Knowingly or otherwise, demonetization has already changed the trajectory of India – behavioral change at individual level around use of banking and new payment interfaces, social change in terms of greater financial responsibility, even disclosure/compliance and creating the greatest asset of all – information. All of which point in the direction of cleaner & more transparent financial system which has to ( non-linearly ) end up benefiting the economics of the country. Not at once, not even over a year but this road post demonetization leads to an outcome different and better that the road India was on before.

Answers to questions like how much better and how fast, will be subject to both execution and momentum till it reaches tipping point, best to leave that for time to reveal.

A 20th century immigration system harms both India and United States

Skilled Immigrants in America
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A 20th century immigration system harms both India and United States

Millions of professionals from India have immigrated to every part of the world. These highly-skilled individuals have worked hard to make meaningful contributions to their countries of residence and have therefore become “successful Pravasi Bharatiya”!

However, the term “successful” is subjective. Especially in the case of United States of America, the success of Indian immigrants is increasingly becoming questionable. As of November 2016, a conservative estimate shows approximately 500,000 Indian nationals stuck in long queue of gaining permanent residency [1] , an assurance of not being kicked out of the country, also commonly known as Green Card. While they must wait for decades to get the Green Card, their careers are limited and the day to day life remains in limbo. This is not only harming the professional careers and the quality of lives for these individuals, but also directly affecting the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit both India and United States have enjoyed so far!

Back in the 20th century, United States became known as the land of opportunities because of its ability to attract and retain immigrants with innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. Transitioning into the 21st century, the United States immigration system is failing to keep up with changing times. The legal immigration system, which the country benefited tremendously from, is now so outdated that it is affecting highly-skilled immigrants and American workers-alike.

Glaring Issue #1 – Career-limiting Decades Long Wait

A fixed number of Green cards are issued every year, but a very small percentage is issued to legal high skilled immigrants. This is further restricted by a “Country of Origin” quota system that allots 7% of the total number of Green Cards to each country. This is the same number whether it is Nepal or Sri Lanka, or a populous nation like India or China. The employment-based immigrant application that relied heavily on the skills of an individual initially, eventually gets stuck in a backlog because the law prohibits processing any more than a set number of applications per country.

Moreover, there seems to be an incorrect interpretation of the rule which has resulted in dependents getting counted within the marginal allotted quota. Thereby, making the backlogs further worse.

All this means that it may take potentially up to 70 years [2], or more [3], for an Indian national who applies today to receive an employment-based green card in the most common employment categories, compared to a couple years for someone from Bangladesh.

While these hundreds of thousands of individuals wait in line, they cannot change jobs easily, accept promotions, start their own ventures, or, sadly at times cannot travel to India or outside US to see immediate family members in times of joy and sorrow. These wait times are already crushing career aspirations and quality of lives of the individuals, and the families especially kids are suffering the consequences as well.

No matter how many years an Indian immigrant may spend in United States, in the absence of a Green Card, a loss of job will require him to sell his home, his assets in 60 days and leave the country.

Glaring Issue #2 – Indian Students Suffer.

Between 2015 and 2016 alone, close to 165,000 students came to the United States to earn a Bachelors, Masters, or PhD degrees. [4] It is no secret that higher education in the United States is expensive, and the fees for just a two-year degree can be close to $50,000 or more. American universities have acknowledged how these fees turn into investments in improving their infrastructure, quality of education, keeping aside highly smart and talented students who end up starting new ventures that lead to creation of more jobs.

Unfortunately, the broken immigration system in America is hurting this relationship. Upon graduation, only 20,000 students from around the world get chosen for a temporary worker visa (H-1B) from a lottery. This visa does not insure them a permanent residency, but just an opportunity to temporarily work at the employer for up to a period of six years.

Most of these students who plan to pursue their careers in US using life savings of their parents, end up returning to India with huge debts on their shoulders, and a broken heart after a long struggle with immigration system. Those lucky to get the H-1B visa through the lottery contend with the others already present in the huge backlogs for getting permanent residence.

Glaring Issue #3 – Breaking Families – Kids of Indian Immigrants

Indian-born children who moved to the United States face a grave peril that can harm their career prospects and, worse, subject them to leave the country if their parents have not received a permanent residency or citizenship by the time the children turn 21. Children who spend their entire childhood and schooling in the United States typically are assimilated with the American culture completely.

When it comes time for applying for higher education, they cannot avail any resident benefits and are treated as international students, which typically means more tuition and fees for education. They cannot accept any paid intern or work opportunities to offset the costs because, as dependents, they do not qualify for work visas/permits. With the ever-increasing backlogs for Green Cards, Indian-born children in such families cannot avail resident education benefits or think about building a career for them in a country they call their home. Instead, their dependent visa qualification expires at the age of 21, If they do not have a student or work visa by then, they may be subject to deportation. One can only imagine how this will affect the chances of these children to achieve success in their lives. Especially, if you are forced to restart everything in a country other than the one you have grown and learned to call your home. All this is an unforeseen effect of the broken immigration system. And, this is only going to get worse in the coming years.

A Possible Fix

The United States immigration systems needs to remove the country-based quota of the last century, and stop discriminating highly-skilled immigrants based on the country of their origin. Removing country-based quotas for the principal applicant will not just benefit the individuals, it will also benefit their families. There have been numerous attempts at doing this in the last few years — HR3012 in 2011-2012, S744 in 2013-2014, and HR213 in 2015-2016 . But many factors have resulted in those bills/policies timing out and never becoming law. 

Call to Action

If you are a United States citizen, a permanent resident, or even a highly-skilled immigrant stuck in the Green Card backlog, you must all come together, and create just the right amount of influence and awareness so that the lawmakers can abolish country-based quotas and limits. As constituents of the communities you live in, your voice and participation really counts in shaping the change we all want. A simple conversation or a phone call with your congressional representative from the district you live in can help them better understand the contributions skilled immigrants make to the communities they live in, the issues they face, and help them make well-informed decisions towards fixing these issues.

Grassroots organizations like Skilled Immigrants in America (SIIA) are doing their part to make the masses aware, and getting the fair and equal opportunity for skilled immigrants in the United States. Join their volunteer network or their Facebook community to get started.

Sources:

[1] – U.S. Department of State. November 2016. Annual Report of Immigrant Visa Applicants. https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/WaitingListItem.pdf

[2] – Skilled Immigrants. YouTube. Stop Discriminating Against Skilled Immigrants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgCjxRMKTgo

[3] – David Bier. Foundation for Economic Education. “The Line” for Green Cards Is So Long You Might Die of Old Age Waiting. https://fee.org/articles/the-line-for-green-cards-is-so-long-you-might-die-of-old-age-waiting/

[4] – Institute of International Education. Project Atlas. International Students in the United States. http://www.iie.org/Services/Project-Atlas/United-States/International-Students-In-US#.WGGmwBsrLIU

Economics of day-to-day life: Lens through a Mumbai Local Trains

ramyaemandi
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Economics of day-to-day life: Lens through a Mumbai Local Trains

Mumbai is an island city in which 88% of the population travel by local trains. Mumbai railway is about 150 years old and it caters to the transport requirement of a population of about 22 million every day.

Local Trains are Mumbaikars’ basic necessity of day-to-day life. This teaches us many elements complex economics. Let’s say you need to reach to your  workplace, say from Santa Cruz to Churchgate. How do you choose to commute? The options that you have are to shell 300-500 rupees (varies with traffic conditions) to travel by Taxi or take a bus that costs about 15 rupees (fixed) or take a local train which costs 10 (fixed).

The utility is the time taken to reach the destination; hence, the fastest mode gives the maximum utility. The cost paid for travel against the comfort of travel gives the cost benefit analysis. What are you willing to shell more – cost or comfort? If you want more comfort, you need to shell more money and vice-versa. And the third dimension is the time, even if you are willing to shell more money for comfort ride i.e roadways; it will take more time than local trains. Well, let’s say we prioritize time and next comes cost and comfort, which leads to taking a ride through local trains – maximising profits.

You stand in the queue to buy a train ticket. A lady approaches saying she is extremely late to work and asks for help to buy a ticket for her, so that she can avoid the queue. Will you help her? You equally have to reach work on time. The decision making of equality versus equity comes into place. Equity and equality are two strategies we can use in an effort to produce fairness. Equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful. Equality is treating everyone the same.

You move ahead not helping the lady, as everyone is equal and that she is not deprived of any opportunities.

On the way to catch the train, you come across beggars for alms, your moral conscious urges you to help the individual by giving some money. But your brain alerts you, what if the money is misused leading to alcoholic consumption or any other. You make a decision to donate the food in your bag making a calculative stand. You showcased care and individual social responsibility towards the society.

You board the train, and lucky enough to get a seat but you see a pregnant lady standing. This time you offer your seat on the basis of equity. Best part of local trains is the hawkers who offer goods at your hand. You plan to buy a pen set from a hawker, this is trading. A trickle down effect comes into play, as you can afford and have enough money to spend on the item the money flows generally from an upper class to the lower class.

But then, you find the item to be overpriced, and figure the same pen set is being offered at lower price from a different hawker. You have more vendors and more competition amongst them, leading to best price for you. Eventually, you settle at a price that you think the pen set is worth, this is equilibrium – where the demand meets the supply.

Government notices many hawkers coming up, who are crowding the over crowded train. Hence, the government puts regulations and limitations that only one hawker for each product. This gives the hawker an opportunity to raise prices abruptly leading to monopoly. Travelers protest this and stop buying products, government intervenes again and allows few hawkers as per their credibility. This is oligopoly. Government also puts a ban on Chinese products owing to degraded quality of products complained by customers. But the real reason behind the ban is to promote the Indian products. This is protectionism.

When any product is sold, a percentage of amount goes to the government. These are indirect taxes. Well, you reach your destination and have to cross over the road to reach workplace. But there is no foot over bridge, and due to heavy Mumbai traffic it is taking time to cross over. You think government should build a foot over bridge, a genuine taxpayer like you is having inconvenience daily. You question, where is the tax money invested?

Did you ever believe just a ride in a local train can teach you so much of economics, well, this is what is economics. It’s common sense in our day-to-day lives!

बैंगलुरु जैसी वारदात हमें एक दूसरे पर कीचड़ उछालने का बहाना दे देती है

Rahul Raj
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बैंगलुरु जैसी वारदात हमें एक दूसरे पर कीचड़ उछालने का बहाना दे देती है

31 दिसम्बर की रात को, अमूमन तौर पर महिलाओं के लिए सुरक्षित माने जाने वाला बेंगलुरू शहर, हैवानियत का नंगा नाच देख रहा था। प्रत्यदर्शी महिलाओं के अनुसार उस रात कुछ लोग राह चलती महिलाओं को जबर्दस्ती छू रहे थे, अपनी अश्लील हरक़तों से परेशान कर रहे थे और उनके शरीर को दबा रहे थे। कुछ प्रकाशित रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक उस रात हुड़दंगियों के बीच युवतियों को भागते हुए और रोते हुए भी देखा गया था।

बेंगलुरू में छेड़छाड़ की शर्मानक वारदात के दो दिन होने वाले हैं, लेकिन पुलिस को अभी तक कोई शिकायत दर्ज नहीं करवाई गई है। हालाँकि ये ज़रूर हुआ है कि हर बार की तरह इस बार भी लोगों ने इस घटना पर अपने घटिया विचार देकर बहुत सारी गन्दगी फैला दी है।

कर्नाटक के गृहमंत्री जी परमेश्वर ने पहले तो पश्चिमी पहनावे को जिम्मेदार ठहराया फिर गैर-जिम्मेदाराना तरीके से ये भी बोल दिया कि नए साल के अवसर पर इस तरह की घटना आम है। समाजवादी पार्टी नेता अबू आजमी ने तो महिलाओं को ही जिम्मेदार ठहरा दिया। मोरल पोलिसिंग से ओत-प्रोत होकर अगर मेरी बहन-बेटी सूरज डूबने के बाद गैर मर्द के साथ 31 दिसंबर मनाए और उसका भाई या पति उसके साथ नहीं है तो यह ठीक नहीं है। अबू आजमी इतने पर ही नहीं रुके, उन्होंने काव्यात्मक तरीके से ये भी कह दिया, ‘अगर कहीं पेट्रोल होगा और आग आएगी तो आग लगेगी ही। शक्कर गिरी होगी तो चींटी वहां जरूर आएगी।‘

परेशान करने वाली दो बातें ये है कि

  • हर बार ऐसे वारदात के बाद जनता के बीच से चुने गए प्रतिनिधियों से इस तरह के बयान क्यों आते हैं?
  • अगर लोगों में छेड़छाड़ के ख़िलाफ़ इतना गुस्सा है तो बसों में, सड़कों पर, गलियों में ऐसी घटनायें कम क्यों नहीं होती हैं?

पहले प्रश्न का उत्तर हम सभी जानते हैं। पुरुष और महिलाओं को समाज के हर मंच पर बराबर का दर्ज़ा मिलना चाहिए और किसी के व्यक्तिगत विकल्प पर नैतिकता थोपने का हक़ किसी पुरुष या महिला को नहीं है। लेकिन आदर्शवाद और व्यवहारिकता में अंतर है। हमने बड़े होते हुए अपने परिवार में, समाज में, और मोहल्ले में अकसर ये सुना है कि लड़कियों को ये नहीं पहनना चाहिए, लड़कियों को शराब से दूर रहना चाहिए और लड़कियों को रात को अकेले बाहर नहीं घूमना चाहिए। आज हम मिनी स्कर्ट पर ऊँगली उठाने वालों पर आश्चर्य कर लेते हैं, लेकिन ये भूल जाते हैं कि मात्र दस-पंद्रह साल पहले बड़े शहरों में भी जीन्स पहनने वाली लड़कियों को भौं सिकोड़कर देखा जाता था, हम ये भूल जाते हैं कि आज से मात्र दस-पंद्रह साल पहले स्कूटी चलाती हुई लड़कियों पर पूरे गली मोहल्ले की नज़र रहती थी। दस-पंद्रह साल में पूरे देश में इतना ज्यादा बदलाव सोचना थोड़ा कम व्यावहारिक है। हमारे द्वारा चुने गए प्रतिनिधि भी समाज के इसी वर्ग से आते हैं। हम केवल इनके सोच विचार को दोष नहीं दे सकते हैं क्योंकि उन्हें भी मालूम है कि उनका वोट बैंक क्या सुनना चाहता है।

दूसरे प्रश्न का उत्तर भी हम जानते ही हैं, जो थोड़ा हमारी सामाजिक व्यवस्था जुड़ा है और हमारे आडम्बर से। हम जब भी सडकों पर, ट्रेनों में या बसों में किसी को छेड़छाड़ करते हुए देखते हैं, अधिकतर बार हम आँख बंद करते हुए आगे बढ़ जाते हैं — कभी इस डर से कि विरोध के चक्कर में हमारा ज्यादा नुक्सान न हो जाए, कभी दूसरों का ‘पर्सनल मैटर’ में ‘टाइम वेस्ट’ का बहाना देकर। सोशल मीडिया पर बैठ कर बड़ी बड़ी बातें लिखने वाले हम लोग बहुत बार खोखले से होते हैं। नारीवाद का झंडा ढोने वाला बॉलीवुड और मीडिया कई ऐसे उदाहरणों से भरा पड़ा है जहाँ बड़े नामों के द्वारा किये गए छेड़छाड़ और बेहूदी हरक़तों को ढक कर दफना दिया जाता है। अपने स्वार्थ के लिए उस समय तो हम चुप रह जाते हैं, लेकिन सोशल मीडिया पर बड़ी बड़ी बातें करने में कभी चुप नहीं होते।

यदि 1500 पुलिस कर्मचारियों और हज़ारों लड़के लड़कियों के बीच कुछ मनचले आकर लड़कियों के साथ आराम से दुर्व्यवहार कर लेते हैं, तो हमारा ये सोचना कि कोई मसीहा आकर सब कुछ सुधार देगा कहाँ तक जायज़ है?

हमारी सामूहिक चेतना और हमारा सामूहिक गुस्सा इतनी जल्दी ठन्डे कैसे पड़ जाता है? समाज का एक पढ़ा लिखा हिस्सा कभी दूसरे देश की घटनाओं से तुलना कर के पल्ला झाड़ लेता है, या कभी किसी तबके या राज्य या धर्म से जोड़कर ऐसी घटनाओं की गंभीरता कम कर देता है, या समानता और व्यक्तिगत विकल्प के साथ बड़ा सा “लेकिन” जोड़ देते हैं, जैसे, लड़कियों को कपडा चुनने पर रोक टोक नहीं होना चाहिए, लेकिन…लड़कियों को रात में घूमने की स्वतंत्रता होनी चाहिए, लेकिन…वही समाज का दूसरा पढ़ा लिखा हिस्सा ग्लानि ढोने के चक्कर में अतिशयोक्ति और अन्योक्ति की सारी सीमाएं तोड़ देता है। यदि #WeAreAshamed और #NotAllMen ट्रेंड कराने से या मोमबती जलाने से हमारी सामूहिक चेतना पर अंतर आता, तो निर्भया काण्ड के बाद बसों, ट्रेनों और गलियों में छेड़छाड़ में काफी कमी आती; ये दिखता नहीं है।

एक लंबे समय से हमारा समाज समाधान ढूंढने से ज्यादा कीचड उछालने पर विश्वास करता आया है। बैंगलुरु जैसी हर घटना के बाद पुलिस, नेता, हमारी संस्कृति, पाश्चात्य संस्कृति, उत्तर भारतीय, दक्षिण भारतीय, मोबाइल, चाऊमीन, सिनेमा, कपडे, संस्कार, नैतिकता सब पर बहस होते हैं, सब की चीड़-फाड़ होती है और अंततः हम समाधान की जगह कीचड उछालने में जूड जाते हैं। अगर आप सोशल मीडिया पर देखेंगे, तो पाएंगे कि इस बार भी कुछ नया नहीं हो रहा है।

इन सभी उलझनों के बीच देश की लाखों लड़कियां और महिलाएं इसी आशा में हर सुबह जगती हैं कि जैसे वक़्त के साथ समाज ने लड़कियों का जीन्स पहनना मान लिए है वैसे ही एक दिन नारी-पुरुष समानता भी मान लेंगे।

Things we need to do to strengthen our democracy

Gireeraaj
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Things we need to do to strengthen our democracy

India is the biggest democracy in the world today. Many of our institutions like the Election Commission, or CAG are few of the biggest assets of this democracy and are respected world over.

There are several facts which are not good sign for our democracy. They are big liabilities to country and addressing those will strengthen our democracy and will be in long term interest of country.

Democratic functioning of Political parties

Role of political party is very important in democracy. Political party forms Govt, run the country, take forward issues of national interest, take people voice to legislature house and play role of opposition. But it is misfortune of this country that most of the political parties have become family businesses. Most of these parties neither elect party president democratically nor function democratically. They neither have fair party constitution based on sound democratic fundamentals nor abide fairly and honestly.

Key posts like party president, constitutional ruling posts (like PM, CM, opposition leader) are always kept with owner family. A quick glimpse of key political parties reveals a dangerous scenario for country:

  • Congress is one of biggest national parties which has ruled country for largest duration after independence. But state of democracy within party is pathetic. Even party constitution used to say prime minister will be party president assuming only this party will rule country through one family. Congress party is family business of Nehru family. There were party president and PM from outside this family as exception for very small duration. Only little big duration was after Rajeev Gandhi’s death when family abstained from politics. Current president is ruling party for more than 18 years.
  • Rashtriya Janta dal is family business of Mr Lalu Yadav who trusted to hand over chief minister ship to his wife who was a house wife, far away from politics while going to jail. Rather than giving it to truly deserving party member. He ensured to cover his entire family during ticket distribution during all elections. His 9th fail son is dy CM of a big state. He himself is facing so many charges, has been sentenced but freely moving around on bail.
  • So many other political parties in country are also run as family business, few of them are:
Political Party (Owner) Family Note
Biju Janata Dal Patnaik family
Indian National Lok Dal Chautala family Family involved in various serious corruption charges and many family members are in long term jail
National Conference Abdulla family Reason to trigger militancy in J&K is because of death of democracy in state by NC and congress
People’s Democratic Party Mr Mufti Mohammed Sayeed family
Lok Jan Shakti Mr Ramvilas Paswan family
Samajwadi Party Mr Mulayam singh Yadav family
Shiromani Akali Dal Mr Prakash singh Badal family
Shiv Sena Bal Thakarey family

Lack of transparency in political parties

Political parties contest elections, occupies treasury or position benches, run Govt, occupies senior most Govt and constitutional posts. They occupy posts above senior most Govt bureaucrats. Most of the legislative, appointment and governing power is with these political party leaders (politicians). All 3 forces head reports to a defence minister of ruling party, all top civil servants report to council of ministers, CM and PM. Most of the Govt departments come under the ambit of RTI. Considering spirit of RTI political parties must come under the ambit of RTI, disclose source of funding (must accept only documented money) and expenses, disclose internal working, each and every action must be in public domain. Even though political parties don’t come together on issues of national interest yet on these issues all political parties have come together.

Voting on caste and religion basis

Caste and religion are biggest factors for voters in all elections over capability, honesty, past corrupt record, criminal background, national interest, candidate qualifications, knowledge of constituency problems, capability to raise people issues in assembly/parliament and commitment. Our politicians are also smart and they further politicise this issue, divide people on these lines, and distribute tickets according to this equation in constituency. As long as this is biggest criteria to vote, how can there be good governance, development, law & order, forward looking, national interest. In fact, we people also fight and are divided on these factors.

Maximum tenure for key posts

All developed nations and democracies have maximum tenure for individual on key constitutional posts like a person can’t be an American president for more than 2 tenure (8 years). It gives opportunity for others and safe guard from any wrong person holding key post and destroying country. People like Mr Jyoti Basu and Lalu Yadav have been CMs up to 25 years and destroyed state. Our country must also have provision for maximum tenure for key posts like PM, President, CM, political party president. Considering Lalu appointing Rabri as CM suggests this cap must be for whole family because our politician may misuse one person law by appointing anyone else from family and ultimately family rules.

Hung parliament/assembly and horse trading

There are so many national, regional, city and mohalla level parties in country. Many election outcomes have not given clear mandate to any one political party because of this these situations happen:

  • Horse trading happens, MP, MLAs are sold at very high price, lucrative posts, ministerial berths and so many under table deals (like dropping charges, cases, investigation) take place
  • Two or more political parties form Govt. These parties pull each other, carry forward their political interests and pressurize to drop any cases/investigations against their leaders, hamper various moves of national interest.

Constitution writers might not have even dreamt of these situations so didn’t address but gave provision to change based on need of hour. It is high time to find solution to this problem. Make some guideline like allow only national parties to participate in parliamentary election, party with highest number of seats to form Govt even if they don’t have majority etc.

Criminals can contest election and become legislatures

A smallest Govt employee can’t be in office if chargesheeted in petty issue, not even heinous crime. But this rule doesn’t apply to politicians. A politician can contest election and become legislature even if he is behind bars, has serious and heinous criminal charges, cases in court, investigations are undergoing.

Because of this criminal are becoming legislature and once they are in power then it is literally impossible to get them punished (either they get rid of all charges or drag cases beyond their life). There are very rare cases when politicians got punished, punishment is upheld by higher courts and he remains behind bars for years. There should be rule like:

  • A politician can’t contest election if chargesheeted
  • Case against any politician (at least serving/ex MLA, MLC and MP) must be completed at all levels within pre-defined time period (say one year)

Is Pankaja Munde becoming victim of internal politics?

Akshay
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Is Pankaja Munde becoming victim of internal politics?

Politics of Maharashtra is one of the most uncertain one. It’s not possible conquer the throne of Delhi, without the helping hand from this state. This state has always favoured the traditional politics of Congress and Maratha Stalwart NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar. State earlier stood unanimously with Yashwantrao Chavan, Vasantrao Naik and then with Pawar.

In 1990, late Pramod Mahajan and late Gopinath Munde allied with Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shivsena on the point of Hindutva. BJP was often called as the party of Brahmins and the upper class and had negligible presence in the rural Maharashtra. Gopinath Munde, being an OBC leader, took party to villages and lowers. Munde was known to counter Sharad Pawar.

After hardship of two decades he was able to convince the people that he is the best alternative to dominance of Pawar and snatched his throne. Though BJP was in opposition in centre, Munde marched to power with Shivsena alliance. Now BJP had a face to count on. After taking to the crown, Munde’s dominance grew over state BJP.

After the unfortunate demise of Gopinath Munde, BJP in the state appeared leaderless. He was the only claimant of the Chief mister’s chair in upcoming assembly election. But the vacuum created due to his death also created new chief ministerial candidates. Out of which one was his own daughter Pankaja Gopinath Munde. She currently holds the Rural Development portfolio in the state cabinet.

Along with Pankaja, other claimants were Eknath Khadse, who is expelled from cabinet on alleged corruption charges, and 3rd one was Vinod Tawade, who with wisdom accepted the provided portfolio quietly. BJP coronated then BJP state president Devendra Fadanvis. This was considered to be a major blow to Munde as she had expressed her desires publicly.

Fadanvis has clean image along with credence of party leadership and RSS as well. So, he was selected over Pankaja and Khadse. Khadse’s continuous displeasure with party became liability. Furthermore, the allegations of corruption made him lose his stature. With Tawade subdued, Pankaja was the only one left who could be called of same stature as Fadanvis.

In June 2015, she faced allegations of corruption in Chikki (Biscuit) distribution from opposition. Her cousin Dhananjay Munde who is NCP leader and Leader of opposition in legislative council, pitted this against her. Congress Spokesperson Sachin Sawant filed complaint with ACB alleging scam of 206 crores in Chikki distribution.

After the ACB investigation the allegations were proved to be false and she was acquitted of all charges. ACB investigation report came after the municipal elections in Maharashtra. This might be one of the major reasons of her defeat in municipal elections. She lost it to her cousin Dhananjay Munde.

CM Devendra Fadanvis holds the Home ministry as well. He could have paced up investigations, but he didn’t. I don’t mean to influence the report, but to make authorities treat it as priority. Was the CM not willing to help?

But for Pankaja, getting acquitted of the Chikki scam allegations was not the end of hurdles.

A new trouble rose when 10 crores of old currency notes were recovered in Mumbai. The amount belonged to Baidyanath Co­-operative bank, Parli, which is operated by her sister and BJP MP from Beed Constituency Pritam Munde. And Pankaja was again on the railing of questions.

Bank did give the clarification of the cash recovered. On further investigation ACB filed FIR against two officials of the bank and a doctor in Mumbai and a doctor in Aurangabad. ACB is carrying out the further investigation.

This isn’t the first time when old currency notes are recovered from entities linked to BJP ministers. On November 17 2016, amount of 91,50,000 was seized from a private vehicle which was owned by minister of Cooperatives Subhash Deshmukh. In his clarification, he told that the amount seized belongs to Lokmangal group operated by him. No big headlines were made then.

By looking at Pankaja’s aggression, mass base, OBC votes, and her ambitions, it appears to benefit Fadanvis if Pankaja remains busy fighting such allegations. Is some internal politics at play here?

Nothing will come out from the investigation about Baidyanath Bank incident as well. BJP can’t afford to lose Pankaja, as losing her will malign image of state BJP and will hamper votes of OBC.

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